It is common that in not-so-professional-environments the two concepts of service qual-ity and customer satisfaction can be more or less seen as the same thing because of their close relationship. Both of these concepts are customer perceptions but it doesn’t mean that they can be grouped as one. The difference between the two concepts is in their underlying outcomes and causes. It is non-debatable that the two concepts are much alike but satisfaction is professionally seen as a more broader concept whereas the con-cept of service quality focuses solely on the assessment and dimensions of services.
(Zeithaml & Bitner, 2003, 84-89)
But as we can’t divide the two concepts from each other completely it is to be said that based on the view that satisfaction is a broader concept and that service quality focuses solely on assessment and dimensions of services, the two concepts come together in a way that perceived service quality, mentioned in the previous chapters, is actually a component of satisfaction – customer satisfaction to be more precise. The Figure 4.
below demonstrates the relationship and ultimately, the dividence, between these two concepts in a concreate and simple way. (Zeithaml & Bitner, 2003, 84-89)
FIGURE 4. The relationship between service quality and customer satisfaction (Zeithaml & Bitner, 2003, 85)
The Figure 4. illustrates that it is actually service quality together with at least 4 other factors that create customer satisfaction. Service quality as a concept then can’t be mis-taken for the concept of customer satisfaction – no matter of their close bond with each other. (Zeithaml & Bitner, 2003, 84-89)
To put it in short, as a sole concept service quality consists of expected service quality together with experienced service quality. If we take an example that we have used before: a restaurant, and look at the dividence of the two concepts through an example a clear difference can be seen. Service quality as a sole concept would be formed by the customer of the restaurant in the following way: the customer would have expectations towards the restaurant gathered for example from the marketing of the restaurant itself together with the word of mouth passing around about the restaurant. The customer would visit the restaurant and would then have either good or bad experiences from the restaurant. The customer would through these expected and experienced factors form a service quality opinion. (Zeithaml & Bitner, 2003, 84-89)
Customer satisfaction as a sole concept forms itself from various factors including the concept of service quality. (Schmitt, 2003,213-215.) If the same example of a restaurant is used the forming of customer satisfaction includes the product quality: the food, the service quality: is the service in the restaurant as expected and is the overall experience good or not, the price: customers always take into account the costs of their service
Customer satisfaction
Product quality
Service
quality Price Personal
factors
Situational
factors
usage/product purchases, the situational factors: for example the location of the restau-rant and is it easy to find and personal factors: for example the emotional state of the customer himself. (Zeithaml & Bitner, 2003, 84-89.)
As seen in these clarifications through examples these two concepts of service quality and customer satisfaction are separate from each other and need to be assessed as indi-vidual concepts. But thenagain the two concepts are very much linked to each other and have a close relationship. The most critical thing for a company is to understand both the dividence and the relationship between the concepts and through that gain success.
(Zeithaml & Bitner, 2003, 84-89)
5 THE COMPANY
The times are hectic for businesses in Finland at the moment. The race for the 1st place in sales is tough. Companies are struggling to find time for all the operations that are needed for the businesses to be able to keep on going. The solution seems too simple:
hiring more staff, but the truth is very different. Times are hectic but they are also eco-nomically tight. Most businesses simply can’t afford to hire more people on their pay-roll. There is a solution for the problem and that solution has grown even more popular in the past years. The solution is outsourcing the company operations that the company struggles to find time for. The businesses can focus on the operations that can’t be out-sourced and trust another company to do the operations that take too much of the com-pany’s own time. The outsourcing of operations can be conducted with a cost that is a minor percentage of the one that the company is dealing with when they’re putting in extra labor hours to fill in the gaps on their own. In these situations where a company is struggling to find time for all of it’s operations; outsourcing companies step in. The commissioning party of this Thesis is a company operating at this exact field of out-sourcing business. The company works specifically in the business field of offering outsroucing services for the field of retailing groceries in Finland.
The commissioning party of this thesis is a company called Extraajat Oy. The author of this thesis completed her three (3) month professional training in the service of the com-pany and through that experience was able to get a commission agreement for this thesis with the company. The company requested the author to perform a customer satisfaction
research for the clients of the company and to figure out what areas of their business are the ones that need special attention and development according to the customers. In order to find out what business areas need development it is needed to take a look at the current state and situation of the company itself. The next chapters give a clear view on the company itself; when it was established, how the business is run as well as the ser-vices that the company provides.